Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. - Colleville-sur-Mer, France - Medal Of Honor Resting Places on Waymarking.com

Brigadier General, Assistant Division Commander, 4th Infantry Division, 1st Army, World War II, Utah Beach, Normandy, France, 6 June 1944
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. was the first Allied general officer to wade ashore on the Normandy beachhead (not counting those who landed in the airborne assault further inland) and the only general in the first amphibious wave. Due to a navigational error on the part of the landing craft crews, the first wave of the 4th Infantry Division landed on the wrong inlet on Utah Beach which, fortunately for them, was less heavily defended than their original objective. Quickly assessing the situation and seizing the initiative and advantage, Roosevelt re-routed the remainder of the division into the new sector, overwhelmed the defenses and rapidly drove inland. The 4th Infantry Division then proceeded to outflank the Germans on their initial objective, clear the entire beachhead, and link up with the airborne assault forces with fewer casualties than the divisions on the other four beachheads. Armed only with a pistol and walking with a cane due to arthritis, he led several assaults along the beachhead in what then-Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley, commander of the US 1st Army and of the overall amphibious operation, would later describe as the single bravest act he witnessed in the entire war. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. died of a heart attack on the battlefield in Normandy five weeks after D-Day, just before word arrived at his headquarters that he had been promoted to Major General and reassigned to command of another division.

Armed Service: Army

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